Weather radar shows precipitation diminishing over south-central Wisconsin as it heads from northwest to southeast. There is a chance these will re-intensify late morning or early afternoon. Storms are likely to approach from the northwest to the southeast as the cold front (not that cold), which is in northern Wisconsin at about 10:00 a.m. Friday will push through are area this afternoon or evening. The low is expected to hit 72°F at about 6:00 a.m. Saturday.
Today’s storms could range in number from isolated to widespread. The greatest chance for severe weather is between 1:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. today. The northwest suburbs and most of northern Illinois counties are included in an area of elevated risk of a tornado or thunderstorm with high winds, according to the National Weather Service Storm Predictions Center (See SPC DAY 1 TORNADO OUTLOOK MAP).
Less than one-half inch of rain is expected this afternoon and tonight.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO/ROMEOVILLE IL
414 AM CDT FRI JUL 19 2013
WINNEBAGO-BOONE-MCHENRY-LAKE ILLINOIS-OGLE-LEE-DE KALB-KANE-
DUPAGE-COOK-LA SALLE-KENDALL-GRUNDY-WILL-KANKAKEE-LIVINGSTON-
IROQUOIS-FORD-LAKE INDIANA-PORTER-NEWTON-JASPER-BENTON-
414 AM CDT FRI JUL 19 2013 /514 AM EDT FRI JUL 19 2013/
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS…
NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA.
.DAY ONE…TODAY AND TONIGHT.
WEATHER HAZARDS EXPECTED:
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS…THE STRONGEST MAY PRODUCE:
TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS.
FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.
AND ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS OVER 60 MPH.
AREAS AFFECTED AND TIMING:
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS COULD DEVELOP AS EARLY AS LATE THIS
MORNING NORTH OF INTERSTATE 88…BUT ARE MORE LIKELY THIS
AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING SPREADING ACROSS THE ENTIRE OUTLOOK
AREA. THE GREATEST THREAT OF ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LOOKS
TO BE BETWEEN 1 PM AND 9 PM. THUNDERSTORMS WILL END FROM NORTH
TO SOUTH ACROSS THE AREA LATE THIS EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT
HOURS.
DISCUSSION:
A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON RESULTING IN
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING. SCATTERED STORMS WILL
CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES SLOWLY ACROSS
THE REGION. STRONG INSTABILITY COULD ALLOW FOR SOME ISOLATED
BRIEFLY SEVERE STORMS TO PRODUCE LOCALLY DAMAGING WIND
GUSTS…HOWEVER WEAK WINDS ALOFT SHOULD GENERALLY KEEP
OVERALL MAGNITUDE AND COVERAGE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS RATHER
LOW TODAY. IN ADDITION…THE VERY WARM TEMPERATURES ALOFT SHOULD
KEEP THE HAIL THREAT LOW AND MOSTLY BELOW AN INCH IN DIAMETER.
HEAT INDICES OF 98 TO 105 ARE LIKELY TODAY.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN…SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY.
WHILE A MAJORITY OF THE TIME WILL BE DRY…THERE IS A CHANCE FOR
A COUPLE PERIODS OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT…
SPOTTERS MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING.
NWS Forecast …
TODAY
Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. Heat index values as high as 102. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Tonight
Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71. West wind 10 to 15 mph becoming west 5 to 10 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Saturday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north northeast in the afternoon.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 63. East northeast wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
Sunday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 79. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
Sunday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 67.
Monday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 84.
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